Chinese symbol for “butterfly”
蝴蝶
hú dié
butterfly; 只 (zhī)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for butterfly is 蝴蝶 (hú dié), defined as: butterfly; 只 (zhī).
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “butterfly”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蝶 | dié | (bound form) butterfly |
| 蝶类 (蝶類) | dié lèi | butterfly (family) |
| 蛱蝶 (蛺蝶) | jiá dié | nymphalid; butterfly |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 蝴蝶.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蝴蝶结 (蝴蝶結) | hú dié jié | bow; bowknot |
| 蝴蝶效应 (蝴蝶效應) | hú dié xiào yìng | butterfly effect (dynamical systems theory) |
| 蝴蝶花 | hú dié huā | iris; Iris tectorum |
| 蝴蝶兰 (蝴蝶蘭) | hú dié lán | moth orchid (genus Phalaenopsis) |
| 鸳鸯蝴蝶 (鴛鴦蝴蝶) | yuān yang hú dié | Mandarin ducks and butterfly (i.e. love birds); derogatory reference to populist and romantic writing around 1900 |
| 蝶泳 | dié yǒng | butterfly stroke (swimming) |
| 胡蝶 | hú dié | variant of 蝴蝶 (hú dié) |
| 凤蝶 (鳳蝶) | fèng dié | swallowtail butterfly |
See also: Japanese symbol for “butterfly”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.